Recent years, in the present photographic field, what have been sought after are light-sensitive silver halide photographic materials that can practice rapid processing, may have high image quality and yet superior processing stability, and can be of low cost. Particularly sought after are light-sensitive silver halide photographic materials that can be processed rapidly.
Namely, it is practiced to continuously process light-sensitive silver halide photographic materials usually in an automatic processing machine installed in every photofinishing laboratory. However, as a part of improvement in services to users, it is desired to finish processing and return products to users in the day the development orders were received, and, nowadays, it is further desired even to return products in several hours after receipt of orders, whereby there is increasing necessity for the rapid processing. Development of the rapid processing is also hastened because a shortened processing time may bring about increase in the production efficiency and a cost decrease may be thereby made possible.
To achieve the rapid processing, there have been made approaches from tow aspects, i.e., a light-sensitive material and a processing solution. In respect of the color developing processing, it has been attempted to make higher the temperature, pH and concentration of a color developing agent, and it is also known to add additives such as development accelerators. The above development accelerators may include 1-phenyl-3-pyrazolidone disclosed in British Pat. No. 811,185, N-methyl-p-aminophenol disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,417,514, N,N,N', N'-tetrametyl-p-phenylenediamine disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication) No. 15554/1975, etc. The method using these, however, can achieve no sufficient rapidness, and may be often accompanied with deterioration of performance such as increase in fog.
On the other hand, the shape, size and composition of silver halide grains of a silver halide emulsion used in the light-sensitive material are known to greatly affect the development speed and so forth. In particular, it is found that the halogen composition may greatly affect the same and a very remarkably high development speed can be shown when a chloride-rich silver halide is used.
However, usually the fog may also greatly increase when it is intended to maintain a high development performance of the chloride-rich silver halide emulsion.
Particularly in a color developing system rather than a black and white developing system, in which a color developing dye is formed, the fog density may become more remarkable as compared with the black and white system, to give an important problem in an attempt to sufficiently exhibit the feature of the rapid processing performance of the chloride-rich silver halide emulsion.
To decrease the fog density, generally used are antifoggants. One of best known antifoggants is potassium bromide, which has been conventionally used in various developing solutions. However, the rapid processing performance may be seriously injured when a material employing the chloride-rich silver halide emulsion is processed in the system of a color developing solution containing potassium bromide. This means that the potassium bromide may act as a very strong development restrainer against the chloride-rich silver halide emulsion before it may prevent the fog. Accordingly, when the rapid processing performance is aimed at, it becomes necessary for the color developing solution used in the system of the chloride-rich silver halide emulsion not to substantially contain any potassium bromide, whereby the condition may become further disadvantageous in respect of the fog.
On the other hand, there have been also known a great number of organic restrainers as other antifoggants, as disclosed, for example, in E. J. Birr, "Stabilization of Photographic Silver Halide Emulsions", Focal Press (1974). Of these antifoggants, heterocyclic mercapto compounds may generally have strong antifoggant effect, and have been well known for a long time. However, the heterocyclic mercapto compounds can be effective for prevention of the fog and at the same time can have considerably strong development restraining effect, and therefore there is a limit in the amount for their use. The heterocyclic mercapto compounds can also show effective antifoggant effect against the chloride-rich silver halide emulsion, but, when they are added in such an amount that the fog can be sufficiently suppressed, the rapid processing performance may be inhibited, though not so strong as in the case of potassium bromide, to greatly diminish the feature coming from the employment of the chloride-rich silver halide emulsion. The fog practically problematic may also be generated at the amount that may satisfy the rapid processing performance. Thus, it has been strongly desired to develop a technique to solve the dilemma such that the rapid processing performance must be maintained and simultaneously the fog must be suppressed in the chloride-rich silver halide emulsion having fundamentally a high developing performance.
Meanwhile, with progress in rapidness of the processing, a property that may have not been questioned so much in the past may come out as a new problem. What is thus questioned is the sensitometry variation of a dye image, that may result from the difference in how vigorously or mildly a developing solution in the color developing is stirred or how frequently it is stirred. When remarkable rapidness is achieved in the processing, the color developing speed may also greatly increase as a matter of course, and, in such a state, the above factor may necessarily have an important influence.
Conventionally, although the degree of how readily the influence by the stirring in the color developing processing may be had (hereinafter referred to as "stirring strength dependence") has not been so much discussed, this is one of the factors of sensitometry performance variation in the actual market. More specifically, in the market, the processing of light-sensitive silver halide photographic material is carried out in an automatic processing machine (hereinafter referred to as "autoprocessor"). The autoprocessor may be variously of a roll automatic processing type, a sheet automatic processing type or a hanger automatic processing type. Further, even in the same roll automatic processing type one, the conveyance speed may vary in the wide range of about 1 m to 20 m/min, and, in respect also of the roll automatic processing type one, the manner of conveyance may vary depending on the manufacturers and the type of machines. Depending on these type, conveyance speed and conveyance manner, there may be great difference in the stirring efficiency, and, in those having great stirring strength dependence, the sensitometry variation may become great in the market, raising an important problem in the quality stability.